The ADVOCATE team published results of the focus groups in Denmark, identifying barriers and facilitators for Danish dental care. Seven broad themes were identified, including both barriers and facilitators: Knowledge and attitudes, Education and training, Regulation, Incentivization, Multidisciplinary approach, Access to care and the Dental professional-patient relationship. Whilst all themes were relevant to each group of stakeholders, the salient driver within each theme was different for each group.

Stakeholder perspectives on the Danish Oral health care system suggest the following are important features for a preventively focused system: (a) Involving all stakeholders in oral healthcare planning. (b) Securing sufficient and ongoing briefing regarding disease prevention for all stakeholders. (c) Regulatory support and creation of incentives to promote and facilitate implementation of disease prevention. (d) Appropriate prevention for disadvantaged groups within society which may be possible to a higher degree by means of multidisciplinary collaboration. (e) Personal relations between the patient and the professional based on mutual trust.

Achievements of the ADVOCATE project are presented at the ADVOCATE Conference and AGM in Cork on 25th and 26th March. This special newsletter edition accompanies the conferences and gives an overview of key achievements of all areas of the project.

Academic detailing (AD) is a defined form of educational outreach that can be deployed to intrinsically motivate practitioners towards improving quality of care. This paper describes the design of the ADVOCATE Field Studies.

This proof of concept study aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and usefulness of AD, reinforced with feedback information to promote prevention-oriented, patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare delivery by general dental practitioners (GDPs). The results of the study will provide novel information on the feasibility, perceived acceptability and usefulness of AD and feedback data for GDPs to improve oral healthcare delivery.

The ADVOCATE Team will present two papers at the International Health Associaton World Congress 2019, 13 – 17th July 2019. The first paper explores the development of a planning model for the Oral Health Workforce, while the second paper examines the correlation between the exposure to X-Rays and the dentist’s remuneration.

Needs-based planning for the oral health workforce – development of a planning model

Successful health workforce planning is critical to the sustainability of a healthcare system as it encompasses the delivery of the right care, in the right place, at the right time, by the right number of people, to those most in need. While many health system policymakers recognise the need to better plan human resources, most countries across the globe have struggled to successfully develop and implement health workforce planning models which are fit for purpose. Using a conceptual framework for health needs-based workforce planning ADVOCATE systematically structured a simulation model to illustrate the feasibility of establishing a useful, workable, oral health needs-based workforce planning simulation tool.

Switching the Dentist: Does Patients’ Exposure to X-Rays Depend on Dentist Remuneration?

Medical radiography is associated with a radiation risk for patients. Xrays are recommended to be used only if the patient’s benefits exceed the risks, that is only upon the strict clinical indication. Current dental clinical guidelines in Scotland indicate that dental X-rays should not be part of routine screening. This includes patients visiting a new dentist, especially when a previous dentist has already undertaken intraoral X-rays. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of dental remuneration on the probability of a patient receiving a dental radiograph when switching to a new dentist.